Bullhead City owes its much of its history to its strategic location along the Colorado River, a waterway that has in turn brought river-based commerce, public works projects and tourism to the area.
The first person of European decent to visit the Bullhead City area was Spanish explorer Melchlor Diaz, who traveled through the region in 1540.
The first settlement at what is now known as Bullhead City was called Hardyville. It was founded in the 1860s by William Harrison Hardy, a man the Bullhead City official website calls "a colorful figure who tried any kind of enterprise."
By the start of the 20th century, Hardyville had become a ghost town, victimized by a new railway that supplanted the Colorado River as a key transportation route.
The town's rebirth as Bullhead City began in 1942, when construction started on Davis Dam. The dam was originally called Bullhead Dam after Bull's Head Rock, a well-known landmark along the Colorado River. Bullhead City became the headquarters for the construction project, which was completed in 1953.
As the nearby Lake Mohave developed into a major tourism destination, and as the casino and resort town of Laughlin, Nevada, sprouted up across the river, Bullhead City grew rapidly, reaching 40,000 inhabitants by 2006. It was incorporated on Aug. 28, 1984.
